The Arabic word hijab literally translates into English as "veil".[1] Adherents of Islam believe that it was originally implemented by Allah in order to secure Muhammad's privacy and create a distinction between the public and private spheres of his life.[2] The word hijab applied to both men and women in terms of protecting both their private lives from outsiders and to protect one's own honor, not in specific relation to one's sexual activity or desires.[1]

Muslims are concerned with clothing in two contexts: clothing for everyday wear, inside and outside the house; and clothing required in specifically religious contexts.

Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: And Allah is well acquainted with all that they do. And say that the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye Believers! turn ye all together towards Allah, that ye may attain Bliss.

O Prophet! Tell thy wives and thy daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them. That will be better, so that they may be recognized and not harassed. Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.

The Qur'an admonishes Muslim women to dress modestly and cover their breasts and genitals.[5] The Qur'an explicitly states that "O wives of the Prophet, you are not like anyone among women"[6] and as such has separate rules specifically for the wives of the Prophet. Wearing hijab, or al-khimar, is obligatory in Islam, as the quote states "Tell the believing women to put their khimar over their bosoms", all the major Arab translations and dictionaries agree that "al-khimar" means a veil or scarf that a woman uses to cover her head, and "over their bosoms" implies women should cover their breasts, necks etc.

The veil re-emerged as a topic of conversation in the 1990s when there was concern regarding potential western infiltration of Muslim practices in Islamic countries.[7] The veil had a new purpose of shielding Muslim women from western influence. There were several religious leaders that reinforced that an additional purpose of the hijab was to protect the Islamic people and customs.

Islamic dress in Europe, notably the variety of headdresses worn by Muslim women, has become a prominent symbol of the presence of Islam in western Europe. In several countries the adherence to hijab (an Arabic noun meaning "to cover") has led to political controversies and proposals for a legal ban. The Netherlands government has decided to introduce a ban on face-covering clothing, popularly described as the "burqa ban", although it does not only apply to the Afghan-model burqa. Other countries, such as France are debating similar legislation, or have more limited prohibitions. Some of them apply only to face-covering clothing such as the burqa, chador, boushiya, or niqab; some apply to any clothing with an Islamic religious symbolism such as the khimar, a type of headscarf (some countries already have laws banning the wearing of masks in public, which can be applied to veils that conceal the face). The issue has different names in different countries, and "the veil" or "hijab" may be used as general terms for the debate, representing more than just the veil itself, or the concept of modesty embodied in hijab.

Although the Balkans and Eastern Europe have indigenous Muslim populations, most Muslims in western Europe are members of immigrant communities. The issue of Islamic dress is linked with issues of immigration and the position of Islam in western society. European Commissioner Franco Frattini said in November 2006, that he did not favour a ban on the burqa.[8] This is apparently the first official statement on the issue of prohibition of Islamic dress from the European Commission, the executive of the European Union. The reasons given for prohibition vary. Legal bans on face-covering clothing are often justified on security grounds, as an anti-terrorism measure.[9][10]

Ayaan Hirsi Ali sees Islam as incompatible with Western values, at least in its present form. She advocates the values of 'Enlightenmentliberalism', including secularism and equality of women. For her, the burqa or chador are both a symbol of religious obscurantism and the oppression of women. Western Enlightenment values, in her view, require prohibition, regardless of whether a woman has freely chosen Islamic dress. Islamic dress is also seen as a symbol of the existence of parallel societies, and the failure of integration: in 2006 British Prime Minister Tony Blair described it as a "mark of separation".[11] Visible symbols of a non-Christian culture conflict with the national identity in European states, which assumes a shared (non-religious) culture. Proposals for a ban may be linked to other related cultural prohibitions: the Dutch politician Geert Wilders proposed a ban on hijabs, in Islamic schools, in new mosques, and in non-western immigration.

In France and Turkey, the emphasis is on the secular nature of the state, and the symbolic nature of the Islamic dress, and bans apply at state institutions (courts, civil service) and in state-funded education. These bans also cover Islamic headscarves, which in some other countries are seen as less controversial, although law court staff in the Netherlands are also forbidden to wear Islamic headscarves on grounds of 'state neutrality'. An apparently less politicised argument is that in specific professions (teaching), a ban on "veils" (niqab) is justified, since face-to-face communication and eye contact is required. This argument has featured prominently in judgements in Britain and the Netherlands, after students or teachers were banned from wearing face-covering clothing. Public and political response to such prohibition proposals is complex, since by definition they mean that the government decides on individual clothing. Some non-Muslims, who would not be affected by a ban, see it as an issue of civil liberties, as a slippery slope leading to further restrictions on private life. A public opinion poll in London showed that 75 percent of Londoners support "the right of all persons to dress in accordance with their religious beliefs".[12] In another poll in the United Kingdom by Ipsos MORI, 61 percent agreed that "Muslim women are segregating themselves" by wearing a veil, yet 77 percent thought they should have the right to wear it.[13]

The hijab has different legal and cultural statuses in various countries. There are currently four countries, including France (since 2004), which have banned the wearing of all overt religious symbols, including the hijab (a Muslimheadscarf, literally Arabic "to cover"), in public schools and universities or government buildings.[14]

In April 2011, France became the first European nation to ban face covering in public space. Balaclavas, face-covering niqabs, full-body burqas and carnival masks (outside carnival season) are prohibited,[15][16][17] though hijab is permitted in public space, because it doesn't hide the face. The law was passed unanimously asserting that face-covering, including Muslim veils are contrary to the principles of security on which France is founded.[18] Sharp criticism had accompanied France's nearly year-long debate on banning burqa-style veils, with those opposed saying, among other things, that the entire process has stigmatized the nation's estimated 5 million Muslims – the largest Muslim population in western Europe. They also claim it is a political ploy because only an estimated 1,900 women wear veils that hide the face.[18]

Turkish women who want to wear the hijab – the traditional Islamic headscarf covering the head and hair, but not the face – to civil service jobs and government offices will be able to do so now that the Turkish government has relaxed its decades-long restriction on wearing the headscarf in state institutions.[19] The new rules, which don’t apply to workers in the military or judiciary, came into effect in 2013, and were put into place to address concerns that the restrictions on hijab were discouraging women from conservative backgrounds from seeking government jobs or higher education.[19] "A dark time eventually comes to an end," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech to the parliament. "Headscarf-wearing women are full members of the republic, as well as those who do not wear it."[19]

In 2011, Syrian President Bashar Assad reversed a decision that bans teachers from wearing the niqab. The move was seen as an attempt to appease religious conservatives in the Sunni majority as he faced down the uprising challenging his authoritarian rule. The government had banned the veil in July 2010. Syria was the latest in a string of nations from Europe to the Middle East to weigh in on the veil, perhaps the most visible symbol of conservative Islam.[20]

In Pakistan, the topic of the hijab is extraordinarily controversial. The veil is constantly a topic of debate and has been for decades now. The PewResearchCenter gathered information on several countries, including Pakistan, and came back with results on how people’s perceptions of the veil differ across the world: “In Pakistan, there is an even split (31% vs. 32%) between woman #3 and woman #2, who is wearing a niqab that exposes only her eyes, while nearly a quarter (24%) choose woman #4.”[21] The results show that there is still a lot of debate about what type of dress women perceive to be most appropriate, and it seems that the debate will continue to go on for many years to come.

On January 8, 2014, the PewResearchCenter conducted a survey of Muslim women in various countries.[22] An overwhelming eighty-nine percent of Egyptian women who responded to the survey believed that women should show their face in public. Ten percent of the survey participants believed that women should be fully veiled when in public. Compared to other countries, Egypt is not as conservative as others, but only fourteen percent of the women surveyed believed that Egyptian women should be able to choose their own clothing. Compared to six other countries, Egypt was last in this category; the statistic (eighty-four percent) suggests that Egyptian women, in general, do not believe that women should have freedom to choose their clothing.

Saudi Arabia is one of the few Muslim countries in which women are forced to cover in most parts of the country.[23] While opinion surveys in Saudi Arabia suggests a strong belief that women should be covered, paradoxically there is also a strong belief that women should have the right to choose what they wear.[24]

A survey done in 2011 by the Pew Research Center asked women of different Muslim countries to choose which of several dresses they think are most appropriate for their country. Among Saudi women, 11% of women said a fully headed burqa is most appropriate, 63% of women said the niqab that only exposes the eyes is appropriate, only 8% said a black hijab covering the hair and ears is appropriate, 10% said a less conservative white hijab covering the hair and ears is appropriate, a small 5% said an even less conservative hijab that is brown and shows some hair is appropriate and a mere 3% said not wearing any covering was appropriate. The niqab is the dress that the highest percent of Saudi women felt was appropriate dress for women in Saudi Arabia. In accordance with these statistics, the Saudi woman that is used in the video, cited above, to show the popular view of Saudi women was wearing this niqab that only exposed her eyes.[22]

During regular, day-to-day activities, Somali women usually wear the guntiino, a long stretch of cloth tied over the shoulder and draped around the waist. In more formal settings such as weddings or religious celebrations like Eid, women wear the dirac, which is a long, light, diaphanous voile dress made of cotton or polyester that is worn over a full-length half-slip and a brassiere. Married women tend to sport head-scarves referred to as shash, and also often cover their upper body with a shawl known as garbasaar. Unmarried or young women, however, do not always cover their heads. Traditional Arabian garb such as the hijab and the jilbab is also commonly worn.[25]

The 2010 "ban on face covering in public space" has made some kind of balaclava, niqab, burqa and carnival masks wearing illegal.[26] That has prompted some violent incidents by radical Muslims who refused to follow European laws. In June 2013, a man was arrested because he attacked policemen on duty who intended to convince his wife wearing a burqa to respect the French law [27] Though almost all European muslim support European laws, some radical muslims use niqab to contest secularism in public European societies.[28]

In 2011, the Canadian government made it illegal for women to wear face-covering garments at citizenship ceremonies, because the judge must be able to see each person's face reciting their oath. In 2012, the Supreme Court issued a rare split decision on whether women could cover their faces on the witness stand. Four judges said it depended on the circumstances, two said witnesses should never cover their face, and one said a Muslim witness should never be ordered to remove her veil. Canada is considering a wider ban on veils in government offices, schools, and hospitals.[31] The provincial government of French-speaking Quebec this year has proposed a law that would outlaw all religious regalia — including Muslim scarves and veils, turbans, Jewish skullcaps and Christian crucifixes — from state buildings.

Muslims have struggled in South America since the 15th century; they were often treated as slaves and forced to abandon their religious beliefs and were sometimes even executed. Like many other places around the world, the hijab was misinterpreted in South America which lead to the perpetuation of stereotypes. Specific South American countries and their perceptions of the veil are discussed below.

Argentina has proven to be a country that has given more freedom to its Muslim population relative to the more oppressive governments that exist. In 2011 Argentinian President Cristina Fernández pushed for legislation which allowed for Muslim women to wear hijab in public places.[32] According to the new law Argentine Muslim women can wear a hijab while being photographed for their national id cards. The law was created in order to help promote freedom of religion and expression in the country, and help the 2% of the Argentine population that is Muslim feel more integrated into society.[32] In the early 2000s, in Palermo, Argentina, the largest mosque in South America was built. The creation of the King Fahd Center is a major event for Argentine Muslims, whose Estimates put the community at some 700,000, most of whom are descendants of Syrian and Lebanese immigrants who came to Argentina from 1850 onwards.[33]

Chile, like Argentina, has a minority Muslim population. Fuad Mussa, the President of the Islamic Cultural Centre, is quoted as saying that “there is a general ignorance among Chileans about Islam.[34] This was after a Chilean citizen was refused service at a bank because of her Hijab in 2010, and would not be served until she removed her Hijab.

There are many different views of Muslim women regarding the hijab. Some women believe that the hijab is too constraining and accept other Muslim women's donning of the garment, whereas other women are against both themselves and other women wearing the hijab due to its oppressive nature. On the other hand, some women embrace the hijab as a way to celebrate their religion and feel that it helps them maintain their intellectuality rather than becoming a sex object in society, and do not understand why other Muslim women do not wear the hijab. Other Muslim women wear the hijab because it has been part of their family tradition, and they do not want to give up something that is sacred to their family. There are women that wear the hijab that do not judge those that do not and believe it is in all Muslim women's best interest to choose for themselves regarding whether they will don the veil or not. The subject is complex and layered, and below are a few anecdotes to provide real Muslim women's experiences with the hijab and their views.

Muslim women do not necessarily view the hijab as oppressive garment that is forced upon them as many westerners believe. Syima Aslam, a Muslim businesswoman from England, feels a special place for the hijab in her heart and feels that it directly connects her to Islam. Although she garners some disdain and disapproval of her choice to wear the hijab from some business partners, she stands firmly by her choice to don the hijab.[35] Another young woman by the name of Rowaida Abdelaziz explains that the hijab is something that she has decided to wear herself and she "does not wear it because [she] is submissive".[36] Another young woman by the name of Sarah Hekmati says that the hijab gives her a sense of freedom and that she likes the idea that a man should know a woman through her intellectual prowess rather than her looks.[36] In her book, Do Muslim Women Need Saving?, Abu-Lughod mentions a former Muslim, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who wrote an autobiography titled Infidel. Hirsi Ali writes about the positive experience she has had living as Muslim and wearing the black garments and veil. Hirsi Ali says, "[the Islamic dress] had a thrill to it, a sensuous feeling. It made me feel empowered... I was unique [...] it made me feel like an individual. It sent out a message of superiority [...]". Hirsi Ali is among those who support the hijab. When she wore it, she did not feel oppressed, but instead empowered and individualized.[37] There seems to be a trend of modern Muslim women standing up for their right to wear the hijab and a desire to show pride for Islam and to show their devotion to Islam in wearing the hijab, and expressing their positive sentiments regarding the hijab in the media.

Hana Tajima, a Muslim fashion icon in her interview with Vision (Magazine) says that fashion-conscious Muslims are proving that you can be cool and modest, stylish and individual without compromising faith. She started her own fashion label Maysaa two years ago, and blogs about her far-reaching influences and inspirations. Twenty-six-year-old Tajima epitomises the new Muslim hipster, glamorous yet edgy, elegant yet quirky. The trend straddles the big cities of the world from London’s Dalston to New York’s Williamsburg - or the glitz of Dubai.[38]

There are some Muslim women that believe that the hijab indeed hinders their personal freedom as a woman. A Muslim woman by the name of Rasmieyh Abdelnabi explains that she decided to stop wearing the hijab because she felt that it was putting too much pressure on her to "represent an entire community".[39] She further explains that she feels that hijab is not representative of Islam but more so of the Arab culture[40] Another belief of some women that wear the hijab is that it could potentially “strip them of their individuality”[40] and turn them into a figurehead for their religion. Some women do not want to have to deal with this on a daily basis, and it is another reason that some Muslim women decided to un-veil themselves. In an article written in September 2013, Nesrine Malike explains her discontent with being forced to wear the niqab, a kind of dress that only exposes the eyes, her whole life. Malike says, "I would rather no one wore a niqab. I would rather that no woman had effectively to disappear, from a young age, because that is the norm in her family. [...] I would rather that Islam be purged of the niqab and all its permutations." Malike is among the Muslim women who feel as though the act of veiling hides women; she would like to ban the niqab from Islam.[41]

A recent incident in Germany reflects the extent of the issue on an international scale: “An administrative court in the southern German city of Munich has banned a female Muslim student from wearing a facial veil in class.”[42] Although Germany does not have an official ban on the hijab, according to the nation’s highest courts federal states have permission to ban Muslim state employees wearing clothing they deem inappropriate. This rule leaves flexibility for German legislators to essentially make their own rules concerning clothing/dress in the country.

Iran is another country with strict rules on the hijab, and many women feel pressured from the government to dress in a certain style. One Iranian woman decided to protest the Iranian regime through her own artistic display.[43]